Landfall's Letter
by Shadowkati
Summary: PreTC Alianne: flirtatious and desperate to become a spy. Rating for mild violence.


**Disclaimer:** I know Tortall, Aly, etcetera are all Tamora Pierce's. You know that too. So as long as we're all clear on that, let us commence.

* * *

_Have you seen her? Oh, I can tell from your eyes that you have. You can't fool me. What do you mean who am I talking about? If you'd met her, you couldn't not know. She has that effect on people. Ah, see! Now you know whom I'm speaking of. She's incredible, isn't she? Have you ever met her brother? You didn't know she had one? She's got two in fact, but the one I mean, he's a page here. You wouldn't have thought they were related, let alone that they were twins – even though they look a little alike, the moment you get to know them all similarities just seem to fade away. _

I'm meant to be meeting her now actually – it's why I asked if you'd seen her, oh I know – I can see it in your expression. I have no illusions on that score, I promise you – she's seen most of my friends in one capacity or another. But hey, she's amazing and while it lasts, it'll be fun. Right?

* * *

As the chimes rang out from the university clock tower, Alianne of Pirate's Swoop, Trebond and Olau was twisting her hair into a complicated fashion. She paused, her hands up on top of her head and leaned to look out of the window at the time. She would be late but there was no helping that. Dissatisfied with the style she had put her hair into, she shook it out again and let it fall past her shoulders. So it was blue – just another thing she could no longer do anything about. At least it was striking. 

Clothing was just another unwanted decision to make. Breeches would be comfortable and practical, but skirts had their own charm and Aly was nothing if not charming. Running her hands over the fabrics, she finally settled on a copper coloured woollen skirt. It was heavy and hardwearing as well as attractive. Her mother's protégé, Keladry, had directed Aly to the most amazing clothes-maker who understood the need to pair attractive with practical. Decisions finally made, she twisted and knotted the leather string belt together and pulled on a cream tunic. Soft leather boots and she was finally ready. She took a final look in the mirror and sent Lalasa good thoughts – even with blue hair and weapons fitted close to her body, her outfit looked great.

As she walked through the hallways heading for their meeting, Aly thought about Rossam. He was nice enough, she supposed but she had been about with him a few times now – they had explored much of the city together – and he was beginning to bore her. Why were there no men who matched her own sense of adventure? The men of her mother's age were dashing and daring. The king had battled ancient gods, Uncle Raoul had taken down giants, her own dear Da had been a master of thieves and spymaster to the country. All Aly ever met were academics who would consider an encounter with a boisterous flower girl enough excitement to last a lifetime. Even the knights and squires of her generation were no more interesting than the horses they rode. No, she took that back. Most of the horses in the palace in the palace stable were _better_ company than their riders. Still, Rossam was sweet enough and she still hadn't seen all of Corus. He had lived here all his life; he knew almost everywhere there was to visit.

x-X-x

"Aly! Over here!" Startled out of her reverie, Alianne looked up to see Rossam waving at her enthusiastically from under the large oak tree in the centre of the courtyard. Waving back, she smiled widely and a few steps more and she had reached him. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached up to kiss him on the cheek and was amused to watch the blush spread right up to his dark brown hairline, as it did every time she greeted him this way. "I wasn't sure you were going to show," he laughed.

Aly grinned back up at him, "As if I would miss out on one of my outings with you," she replied lightly but couldn't help but notice that there was real worry behind Rossam's cheerful expression. _Oh gods,_ she thought ruefully to herself. "Come on then, where are you taking me this evening?"

"It'll be a surprise. Are you hungry?"

"A little," Aly replied, intrigued. "Lead on, my guide.' She curtsied theatrically.

"At your service, my lady." Rossam bowed with a flourish and offered his arm to her, Aly took it and they promenaded out of the courtyard together.

x-X-x

"It's lovely Rossam, but where are we?" Alianne looked around at the eating-place as she wiped up the last of the stew from her bowl with a large hunk of bread. It was dim and the lighting provided only by the dozens of candles strewn on every available flat surface. They were sat at rough-hewn benches and there was nothing of the fine, cultured university they had left less than an hour earlier.

"This is the oldest part of Corus,' Rossam explained. "There's nowhere in the city that dates back further."

Aly gazed around some more. "This? Really?"

"Just imagine what this place must have been like all those hundreds of years ago."

"Mmm…"

Rossam appeared to notice Aly's comparatively lesser enthusiasm. "It was the time of the warrior maidens of old."

"My ma would be fascinated," she responded dutifully. As Rossam deflated, she immediately felt guilty. He had been so good to show her around. Quickly she smiled and added, "And she'd be right to. I would love to show her this place."

"Oh, not just here," Rossam quickly corrected. "This whole area. These four roads that run parallel to each other."

Aly looked genuinely interested now. "All around here?" He nodded. "Then lets go explore it!"

"I…"

"Come on!" Alianne jumped up and grabbed Rossam's hand, dragging him to his feet. "Lets go now!"

"I…"

"What Rossam? You what?"

"I need to pay."

"Oh. Right." Embarrassed, she stepped to one side and fidgeted as Rossam went to pay for their meal but the moment he was done, she grabbed his hand again and dragged him out,

As the door swung shut, Aly gripped Rossam's hand and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Which way?"

He nodded down the narrow road. "That way. But there isn't much to see. The few buildings that are left from that era are completely out of bounds. They're crumbling to pieces."

"Lets go look anyway," Aly insisted and set off down the road. She stopped and looked back, her hands on her hips. Rossam hesitated, and then trotted after her, as she had known he would. As he joined her, she took his hand, dimly aware that she was rewarding him in some way and for a few minutes they walked in companionable silence down the cobbled street.

Coming level with a tall, thin building sandwiched between two wider, newer townhouses, she stopped and pointed up through the tall fence at it. "Do you know what that was?"

"Oh, uh, yes." Rossam looked pleased. "One of the few around here that is recorded.' She nodded. "It was one of the old spy houses. They used this as one of their safe places. It wasn't often that they would actually meet here – unless it was urgent – but they would leave coded messages to each other here. Or important packages."

Aly's eyes glowed with interest, imagining the old spies slipping in and out of the very house she stood before. "I have to go inside and look."

"What? Aly! We can't – it's dangerous! The whole place is falling apart!"

"You don't have to come but I'm going in."

"No, Aly – I can't let you."

"You can't stop me," she replied coolly and dropped his hand. Stepping up to the fence, she placed her hands on the top wooden slats and tested its strength. It, unlike the building it guarded, was new and strong. She jumped and hoisted herself up, deftly twisting her legs to prevent her skirt from getting caught on the palings. Dropping down on the other side, she looked back. "Last chance."

Rossam dithered, stepping back and forth until Aly turned away impatiently. As she headed towards the doorway that was minus a door, he called out. "Wait!" With less agility than the girl, he scrambled over the fence himself and dropped heavily on the other side. "I can't let you go in alone. Thom would kill me."

Aly smiled, satisfied. She wouldn't have stopped if he had chose to stay behind but having the company was nice. "Come on then if you're coming.' Without waiting any longer, she headed into the dark interior of the house and waited in the doorway for her night vision to adjust. As Rossam joined her, she looked up at the stairway that hung in the gloom a bare few feet from where they stood.

"You've seen in now, can we…"

Frowning, Aly waved Rossam into silence. "Sssh." It wasn't as dark as she had expected.

Rossam dropped his voice but carried on. "Can we go then? Curiosity satisfied?"

"Sssh!"

He glared at Aly but as he was about to ask what she was shushing about, he heard a noise from upstairs. A creaking of the floorboards perhaps. 'What is it?' he mouthed.

Aly shook her head and crept forward on silent feet towards the stairs. Rossam looked wary and shook his head. 'Not safe," he formed the words with exaggerated waving of his arms but Alianne smiled and took a step up, keeping close to the wall. As risky as the stairs might have been, they would be most sturdy at the edges. Brushing close to the wall, ignoring the dirt that rubbed off on her clothes, she progressed towards the first floor. Briefly, she turned to look back at Rossam who was following resignedly. She gave him a warning look, hoping that it conveyed how quiet he needed to be and carried on up without looking back again.

"He'll be here in five minutes."

Aly's eyes widened at the sound of the voice that came down from the upper floor. It was a man, gruff and uncompromising. A woman, voice equally rough, answered.

"They had better. We don't have any more time to waste on this."

Finally reaching the top step, Aly crept towards the door keeping close to the wall and pressed herself against the doorframe. Rossam, commendably silent, joined her soon after and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Who's in there?" She looked back in disbelief and didn't bother to answer. How was she meant to know? "What are we going to do?" he whispered again. She didn't know that either but whatever it was, it had better be quick if 'he' was going to be here in five minutes. As Aly tried to think, her thoughts racing, they were interrupted by a shout.

"Hey! Who are you?"

'He' was early. A dark, thin man galloped up the stairs with none of the concern Aly and Rossam had shown for the age of the wood, his shout had alerted the two in the room. The door swung open and behind it, Alianne only had enough time to throw up her arms in defence as it smashed hard against her body. "Aly!" Rossam shouted, just before he was grabbed by the gruff man they had heard.

Dazed, Aly stumbled from behind the door but keeping the presence of mind to appear more disorientated that she actually was. She didn't put up much struggle as the new arrival caught her arms from behind and wrapped an arm across her neck and shoulders.

"Now, what have we got here?" The woman came into view. She was tall and in the lamplight shining out of the room, Aly could see she had strawberry blonde hair and a long nose. The spymaster's daughter committed every feature firmly to memory; the sharp lines around her mouth, the way her right eye slanted up slightly.

"Please," she begged breathlessly. "We were just curious. We didn't mean to intrude." Even as she spoke, Aly twisted her body, aiming for a position where she could reach one of her knives.

"Couple of kids," Gruff Man muttered, disgusted.

The other one leered. His moustache wobbled up and down against Aly's ear as he sniggered. "Courting were you? Looking for somewhere nice and quiet, eh?"

Rossam's blush was enough to convince them. Aly was amazed that he was embarrassed, even in a situation like this. "So, we can go?"

"Ha!" The woman shook her head, pityingly. "Can't set you out now. Can't have you two blabbing all over Corus about us being here."

"We won't say anything, you have my word." Aly couldn't tell if Rossam meant it or not. The woman shook her head and turned away, back into the room.

"Kill them – just not here. I need to deal with this."

"No…" Rossam gasped as he was harried down the stairs. He scrabbled for a purchase with his feet, pressing back against his captor.

Aly, shoved closely behind them, took her opportunity and as Rossam managed to turn to one side slightly, instead of pushing back against the moustached man, she threw herself against the man who held Rossam. Not expecting her launch forwards, her own captor came with her, putting his weight behind the fall. They crashed into Gruff Man together and flailing to keep his balance, he let go of his prisoner. As the three started their combined tumble down the stairs, Rossam shot out a hand and grabbed the first thing of Aly's that he was certain was hers: her bright blue hair. With an agonised gasp of pain, she reached back and caught his arm and reeled herself in. Holding tight onto each other, they watched the two men roll down the stairs together until they came to a halt in the light from the open doorway. Aly and Rossam stayed, holding their breath and staring down at the unmoving jumble of limbs and torsos before a clatter from behind them broke the spell.

The girl was the first to react, whirling around and running into the room. It was empty. Rossam came in behind her and she jumped as he lay a hand on her arm. "Where did the woman go?"

Aly looked about blankly before she realised there was fresh air on her face. She took three quick steps over to the window and leaned out. Below the sill was the roof an outhouse. Undoubtedly the blonde woman had gone this way. "We've lost her."

Rossam came over to look out as well and put his arm around Alianne. She shrugged it off impatiently. This was no time for comforting. While the grabbing of her hair had probably saved her life, it didn't make her head ache any less. She turned and ran out and down the stairs.

At the bottom she hesitated for a moment before starting her search of the men's pockets. They were dead, there was no doubt about that. The thin man's neck was bent at an impossible angle and the other definitely wasn't breathing either. "Aly?" She didn't look around, still rifling through their clothes. "What in Mithros' name are you doing?"

"These people were obviously up to no good, I want to know what that 'no good' was. Ah ha!" The cry of triumph was accompanied by a brandishing of a sealed letter. Prising it open, she scanned it quickly. Code: it was to be expected, and a mixture at that. Some she recognised and would be able to decipher back at the university, but one section she instantly recognised. Reading quickly, she looked up at Rossam who wore an unreadable expression. "Landfall. He's coming back to Tortall."

"Who?"

x-X-x

Hours later, in her room Alianne finally looked up from the letter. Rossam who hadn't stopped pacing since their return, paused and looked at her questioningly. "You know what it says?"

"Yes. I.. I need to tell someone about this."

"About what, Aly?" Rossam sat down on her bed and ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up on end. "What's going on?"

"I can't tell you." He looked furious and Aly had the good grace to be apologetic. "I'm sorry – I really can't." She couldn't explain about her father, about spying. "But I need to go home."

Rossam nodded resignedly. "Right." He stood up. "Then I suppose this is goodbye, Alianne."

Aly was already looking back down at the paper, making sure she'd decoded it properly. As Rossam opened the door though, she looked up once more. "I'm sorry," she repeated getting up, still clutching the letter.

"I can't even begin to understand what's happened tonight but Aly, be careful." He kissed her on the top of her blue head and stepped out into the hall. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime." Quietly he closed the door behind him and Aly stared at the plain wood for a few moments before she bent to packing. She would have to go to Port Caynn first, before returning to Pirate's Swoop. She needed to be the first one to meet Landfall off that boat.

x-X-x

She was. When the spy stepped off the gangplank, he was greeted by a young woman, aged four years since he'd last seen her and now sporting a bright blue mane of hair. "You shouldn't know I'm here, Alianne."

"And I don't." She pressed an envelope into his hand. "Along with all the news you bring back, you need to tell Da this too."

He looked down at the sealed letter. "Why don't you tell him?"

"The only daughter of Baron Cooper and Alanna the Lioness doing spywork? Not she, Landfall. Her parents would have a fit." She smiled. "Not yet, anyway." She started to turn away. "Just be sure to write him soon."

* * *

"What of young what's-his-name? The one you wrote was squiring you about Corus?"  
"He bored me, Da. They all do, in time."  
- George and Aly, _Trickster's Choice_


End file.
